a guide to the

Monmouth County

Clerk’s Office

Christine Giordano Hanlon, Esq.

Monmouth County Clerk

1

Christine Giordano Hanlon, Esq.

Monmouth County Clerk

This booklet is provided as a public service to the residents of Monmouth County.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Collins, Assistant to the Clerk,

at 732-431-7324, ext. 8735 or jennifer.collins@co.monmouth.nj.us.

2

Table of Contents

PAGE

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY CLERK………………………………………...4

THE FIVE DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE…………….5

RECORDING DIVISION…………………………………...……………………6

CLERK OF ELECTIONS / ELECTIONS DIVISION…………………………9

ARCHIVES DIVISION & RECORDS CENTER……………………………..11

PASSPORT DIVISION………………………………………………………….15

OFFICE OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT……………………………………16

ADDITIONAL SERVICES……………………………………………………..17

County Identification Cards

Veterans’ Identification Cards / Veterans Discount Program

Notary Public Applications / Swearing-Ins

Wedding Ceremonies

3

History of the County Clerk

The County Clerk in the State of New Jersey is one of three County Constitutional

Officers, along with the Sheriff and Surrogate, and is elected to a five-year term.

The role of the County Clerk evolved from medieval times, when few could read and

write. “Clericus” or “clerks” maintained records of transfer or real estate and other

functions. They enjoyed the protection of the church and “benefit of clergy,” which

prohibited the courts from gaining jurisdiction over them and provided exemption

from punishments for crimes.

For 500 years, through the 16th century, the transfer of property occurred by

documents written and held by the clerks. And because these clerks could read and

write, they became “clerks to the courts” in England and then in the American

colonies.

After the Revolutionary War, the State of New Jersey codified the basic concept that

recording was necessary to protect purchasers of property. The “Conveyancing Act of

1799” required property transfers to be “recorded” in a “register” or be “void and of

no effect.” These laws required that these tasks be performed by the “clerks of the

inferior courts of common pleas and quarter sessions” who were “appointed by the

council and assembly and commissioned by the governor” (New Jersey Constitution

of 1776, Article XII). The maintenance of those records was perceived as a

supplemental “judicial” function under the Constitution, since the clerk of the county

served first as clerk to the court and then as clerk to the citizens.

4

The New Jersey Constitution of 1844 removed the clerks from the control of the

executive and judiciary and had their powers conferred upon them by the voters. They

were made constitutional officers, and served for fixed terms. The New Jersey

Constitution of 1844 provided, in paragraph 5, that:

“Clerks and surrogates of counties shall be elected by the people of their respective

counties, at the annual elections for members of the general assembly. They shall hold

their offices for five years.”

As of 1844, clerks were recognized not as an employee or officer of the courts, but as

distinct constitutional officers. An examination of the statutes does not show any

statutory change in their role, functions, duties and responsibilities.

Since 1844, the Clerks, as expert constitutional officers, perform what is now a

statutory function in recording documents of title, as well as other significant

responsibilities regarding elections and record keeping.

New Jersey Constitution of 1776, Article XII

5

The Five Divisions of the

Monmouth County Clerk’s Office:

I. Recording

II. Elections

III. Archives and Records Center

IV. Passports

V. Office of Records Management

6

Recording Division

Since 1675, the Monmouth County Clerk has been the “Keeper of the Records” and is

responsible for maintaining a record of real property transfers and interests in the

County. This includes deeds, mortgages, liens, judgements, lis pendens, discharges,

notices of settlement, maps, roads, and other related documents. In addition to the

recording of documents, the Clerk’s Recording Division provides customer service to

Monmouth County residents with respect to providing information about the recorded

documents and property interests.

All documents received are reviewed, indexed, and validated with an instrument

number, date, time, book, and page number. Since 1996, through the implementation

of an imaging system, all documents received in paper form are scanned and

maintained digitally through this system. In 2003, the online filing of documents

became possible through an online portal. Documents are now able to be filed via

internet and stored on the imaging system. On an annual basis, the Recording Division

processes over 110,000 land documents.

7

Freehold Borough Subdivision Map

Market Yard / Main Street

Filed with the Monmouth County Clerk on May 27, 1920

8

Map of Asbury Park

Filed with the Monmouth County Clerk on April 22, 1878

9

Clerk of Elections / Elections Division

The County Clerk is the Clerk of Elections for

the County of Monmouth. The Elections

Division of the County Clerk’s Office is

statutorily mandated under Title 19 of the New

Jersey State Statutes. The responsibilities of the

Clerk of Elections include, but are not limited to:

Processing Vote by Mail Ballot applications

Maintenance of permanent Vote by Mail lists

Preparing sample, emergency, provisional, overseas and Vote by Mail Ballots

Acceptance and verification of county, school board and independent municipal

candidate petitions

Preparation of petitions for county, municipal and school offices

Maintenance of county committee lists for Republican and Democratic parties

Maintenance of lists for elected officials (state, county and local offices)

Collection of election results

Conducting the official canvass of votes and issuing the Certificate of Election

to all candidates for all public questions

Certification of Election results to the

Secretary of State

The Elections Division also fields requests from

the electorate regarding all election matters,

works with the municipal clerks and the two

other county election offices to

10

facilitate a smooth and accurate election process. We also work to keep up with

changing mandates, technology and advancements relating to elections.

We launched our new Elections and Voter Mobile App, Monmouth County Votes,

which is free and available for download in the Apple App and Google Play stores. It

was designed to give voters easy access to all important information regarding

elections and voting. The App utilizes modern technology to engage more citizens in

the democratic process and features push notifications to alert users about potential

election deadlines.

We also updated our Election Night Reporting (ENR) website to provide improved

access to election results for voters and candidates throughout Monmouth County.

The new Reporting site allows users to search results by contest, town, and district. It

also provides easier access to certain results and provides statistical information. The

ENR Website can be accessed by visiting our Elections Website,

MonmouthCountyVotes.com.

11

Archives Division and Records Center

The Monmouth County Archives, under the direction of the County Clerk, provides

secure records storage, filing, cataloging and

retrieval services for state, county and local

government agencies. The Archives also

preserves, organizes and provides access to

Monmouth County government records of

enduring historic value that are retained on a

permanent basis. These records include

documents pertaining to deeds, court cases,

naturalizations, and many other subjects, many of which date back centuries. Our

records are used for legal, genealogical, historical, and other research purposes.

The Microfilming/Scanning department

within the Archives Division provides

reformatting services for records in the

Archives, the County Clerk’s land

records, MR-MARC records, records on

long term retention, and records for

other county agencies that are sent to the

Archives for reformatting, either on

paper or electronically. Including both microfilm and scanning, the department

preserves more than one million pages of documents annually. Our Records Center,

at the end of 2019 was storing 16,323 boxes and 13,441 books.

12

We also work to educate the public about Monmouth County history through public

programs, exhibits and social media. In October of every year, the Archives Division

plans and implements Monmouth County Archives and History Day. This is a special

day, during which we host dozens of historical organizations from around the state of

New Jersey to participate and display their collections.

Teddy Roosevelt

Campaigning in Red Bank

for the 1912 Presidential Election

13

The Monmouth Patent, 1665

The Oldest Deed Preserved at the Monmouth County Archives

The Monmouth Patent was a large triangular tract of land granted on April 8, 1665, as a land

patent to settlers. Colonel Richard Nicolls, an English military officer, had conquered the

territory that is now the states of New Jersey and New York when he forced the Dutch surrender

of the New Netherland colony at the onset of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1664. Nicolls had

instructions to govern the colony and therefore, instituted a legal system and issued conditions

upon which plantations and land grants would be created.

In 1664, Nicolls granted a patent for the Monmouth Tract. Twelve men, most of whom

were Quakers from Long Island, purchased an area that extended from Sandy Hook to the mouth

of the Raritan River, upstream approximately 25 miles, and then southeast to Barnegat Bay.

In 1675, Monmouth was established as one of the first four counties in the proprietary East

Jersey colony, along with Bergen, Essex and Middlesex.

14

Slave Births, Monmouth County, 1804-1848

Child Name: Alonzo Paterson

Date of Birth: October 18, 1848

15

Passport Division

For over 50 years, the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office has been providing passport

services to the public. Although the issuance of passports is done by the federal

passport agency, the County Clerk’s Passports Division assists in the preparation of

the application, as well as the taking of the passport photograph. These documents are

forwarded to the Philadelphia federal passport office.

The Monmouth County Clerk provides passport services both in the County Clerk’s

Main Office located at 33 Mechanic Street in Freehold, and in the Monmouth County

Connection Office located at 3544 State Highway 66 in Neptune. Along with our two

permanent passport offices, the Monmouth County Clerk also provides passport

services at our satellite location, the Mobile County Connection, at the Monmouth

Mall in Eatontown on the first Thursday of every month.

Through the Mobile County Connection initiative, the Monmouth County Clerk’s

Office provides passport services directly into communities throughout the County by

visiting numerous municipalities, libraries, and senior communities each year.

16

Office of Records Management

The mission of the Office of Records Management (ORM) is threefold:

First, to create and expand an electronic records management program that focuses on

improving retention, retrieval and efficiency through the utilization of electronic

records. Second, to reduce the County’s overall paper records storage needs by

deploying and supporting imaging technology. This effort includes the development,

expansion and management of applications that change the County’s initial point of

service to the submission of electronic records, thereby replacing the receipt of paper.

Third, to provide enhanced public access to high-demand public records via the

internet.

ORM is responsible for the County Open Public Records Search System (OPRS), the

County’s online record management system which allows public access to

government records, Records Information Management (RIM) the County’s internal

records repository, DSMS (Document Summary Management System) which allows

the electronic recordation of documents with the County Clerk, and other electronic

document management systems in use throughout many County departments.

17

In 2008, in an effort to keep up with developing technology, the Office of Records

Management (ORM) Division was established to provide electronic imaging for

record retention to all agencies within the County and its 53 municipalities. ORM

created and is responsible for the Open Public Records Search System (OPRS),

Records Information Management (RIM), Agenda Module and portals for the Tax

Board, Online Tax Appeals, Forms, Income and Expenses, and Farming.

Additional Services

In addition to the five divisions, the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office also issues

County Identification Cards, Veterans’ Cards,

Veterans’ Peddler Licenses, and swears in Notaries Public.

County Identification Cards

The Monmouth County Clerk's Office provides identification cards to U.S. citizens

who are residents of Monmouth County. The card includes the resident’s photo, name,

address, date of birth, height, weight, hair/eye color, and signature. Required

documents to obtain an ID can be found on our website, MonmouthCountyClerk.com.

18

Veterans’ Cards and Veterans’ Peddler Licenses

Clerk Hanlon issues Veterans’ ID cards as a way to honor

and identify those Monmouth County residents who

served our country in active military duty.

Clerk Hanlon initiated the “Honoring Our Heroes”

veterans discount program, which encourages local

businesses to offer special services to our county’s

veterans and military members.

Notary Public Applications/Swearing-In

The Notary Public serves as an impartial witness to the signing of documents, attests

to the signature on the document, and may also administer oaths and affirmations.

The State Treasurer appoints a notary public for a five-year period and may renew the

appointment for five-year increments. All Notaries Public are sworn into office by the

Clerk of the county in which the candidate resides.

19

Wedding Ceremonies

One of the most traditional and enjoyable duties of the Monmouth County Clerk is the

performance of marriage ceremonies.

Wedding ceremonies take place in the Ceremony Room, which is a private room

within the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office. The room comfortably seats 21 people

with additional standing room.

We strive to make each ceremony as personalized as possible, giving couples the

opportunities to say something special to each other before the wedding vows and/or

for a family member, witness, or guest to give a special reading.

The Monmouth County

Clerk’s Office

Monmouth County Clerk’s Office

Market Yard

33 Mechanic Street

Freehold, NJ 07728

Monmouth County Connection

3544 State Highway 66

Neptune, NJ 07753

Monmouth County Clerk of Elections

300 Halls Mill Road

Freehold, NJ 07728

Monmouth County Archives Division

Lower Level of the Monmouth County Library HQ

125 Symmes Drive

Manalapan, NJ 07726

www.MonmouthCountyClerk.com

Connect with Us:

Rev. 2/2021